Here's the work in progress on the second piece I'm doing for my children's illustration portfolio. Something I have fond memories of from when I was a kid is building forts out of chairs and draped sheets with my cousin and friends. A secret space to tell stories and do kid stuff.

That memory led me to this idea. I thought silhouettes through the sheet would make for an interesting picture. Then, to bring some more personality into it, I decided to add a side panel showing them making faces in the flashlight. I'm thinking about giving ponytail girl glasses for added variety.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

I'm currently interested in exploring unusual picture sizes. I usually think in terms of prints for the final output, which means many of my pictures are formatted with a standard letter 8.5"x11" or tabloid 11"x17" size in mind. In contrast, this one is tall, about 8"x14".

Hope you guys dig! I have more storybook type pictures like this planned and in various stages of development, so stay tuned for more. :)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Here's my current progress on the dragon rider illustration. Colors are still fairly rough. First I blocked in all my basic colors, then I started polishing and adding texture to individual sections. The wall, lamp, coffee table, and chair are done. I plan on tackling the wood floor next.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

New picture for the children's illustration portfolio I'm working on. My idea was to depict a little girl curled up in a chair, so engrossed in reading her book that she imagines herself as the heroine of the tale.

Every picture I do starts with a thumbnail sketch, no larger than a couple inches tall. This allows me to jot down all the important details of an idea quickly, and "feel out" a composition without spending too much time on it. This way, I can easily try multiple takes if something's not working.

In this case, I was satisfied with the original thumbnail, and move straight onto the rough sketch, a full-sized drawing based off the thumbnail. Sometimes I will work the rough sketch to completion, but in this case it was too messy, so I transferred the drawing onto another sheet of paper to do my final pass (and made a couple tweaks to the composition while I was at it).

This is where I currently am: the lines are clean and ready for colors!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Here's some of the portrait sketches I did at Megacon (at least, the ones I remembered to photograph). "You, as an anime character" is what I offer, and it tends be a crowd pleaser, so I'm always happy to do them at conventions. ^_^ Apologies for the so-so quality. The lighting conditions were not ideal for taking photos of art. Enjoy, and let me know if you see yourself on there. :)